Bears Free Up $2 Million With Julius Peppers Restructured Contract

In the scramble for salary cap space the Chicago Bears decided to restructure the contract of DE Julius Peppers to free up $2 million in cap. Per a source with knowledge of the contract, Peppers reduced his base salary from $12.9 million in 2013 to $9.9 million with the difference being prorated over the final three years of the contract.

Clearly the Bears could have gone much further with the restructure if needed, but the Bears are doing their best to manage the cap without doing much damage to future seasons. This $2 million in savings was likely the least amount the team felt they needed to function smoothly at the start of the 2013 league year. Peppers 2014 cap number will rise to $18.18 million and his dead money increases to $8.36 million, making him a target for either a June 1 cut designation or a candidate for a contract extension.

Featured Contract

Drew Brees signed a one year contract extension worth $24.25 million, all of which is guaranteed, on September 7, 2016 with the Saints. Brees, who had been scheduled to earn $20 million in 2016 will now earn $31.25 million, including a $30 million signing bonus per Andrew Brandt. The contract contains three voidable contract years to prorate the signing bonus. The new contract reduces Brees cap number from $30 million to $17.25 million in 2016. Brees has a no trade clause and can not be franchise tagged when his contract voids. If the contract voids and Brees is not extended the Saints will carry a dead money charge of $18 million in 2019 for Brees. The deadline for the void is the final day of the 2017 league year.